Science Gateways: Sustainability via On-Campus Teams

The challenges for creators of specific science gateways are manifold, and the expertise needed for well-designed science gateways is very diverse. The sustainability of science gateways is crucial to serve communities effectively, efficiently and reliably. One measure to achieve greater sustainability of science gateways is establishing on-campus teams. Researchers are served more efficiently since the support by experienced developers reduces individual project investments, and a team can bring the diversity of required expertise for a well-designed science gateway. This paper goes into detail about the challenges and the benefits of on-campus groups and of sharing resources across a campus. We provide four successful cases, describe the services of the Science Gateways Community Institute (SGCI) to support the process in building such groups, and recommend strategies for using free campus resources.